SEATTLE, May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptive Biotechnologies, the pioneer of Next Generation Sequencing of the adaptive immune system, and its collaborators will present data supporting the clinical application of immunosequencing in diagnosing and monitoring T cell lymphomas at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Data will also be presented demonstrating how immunosequencing can be used to elucidate the activity of immunotherapeutic combination therapy in early-stage operable breast cancer.

Adaptive is collaborating with the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Stanford University, and the University of Washington, on studies evaluating the utility of immunosequencing for the early diagnosis and detection of relapse in a variety of T cell malignancies. The test used in these studies is Adaptive's clinically validated, CLIA-certified clonoSEQTM diagnostic used to monitor Minimal Residual Disease (MRD), the cancerous cells remaining after treatment, in patients with lymphoid malignancies.

At ASCO, data from one of these studies conducted in 75 patients with Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) at Brigham and Women's Hospital, will be presented showing that clonoSEQ provides an accurate and more robust discriminator between malignant and non-malignant disease than current assays such as flow cytometry or qPCR. This is a promising advance because CTCL can be a difficult to diagnose skin cancer since the presenting lesions can mimic non-malignant conditions. "clonoSEQ offers dermatologists and treating oncologists a more accurate and expeditious way of diagnosing CTCL," explained Dr. Thomas Kupper, Chairman of Dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "We hope to incorporate this test in our clinical management of patients."

Data will also be presented showing the utility of Adaptive's research assay, immunoSEQTM, in studying the response of T cells in breast cancer following immunotherapy. In a study run by the breast cancer team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were evaluated for clonal expansion in breast cancer patients receiving cryoablation and/or ipilimumab. The results of this study demonstrate that cryoablation induces a novel polyclonal T-cell infiltrate, and that combination cryoablation plus ipilimumab may expand a subset of clones. "This study is one of many in which immunoSEQ is being used to quantitatively assess the clonal expansion of TILs across solid tumors in response to cancer immunotherapy. Adaptive is honored to be part of a study that supports the use of immunosequencing to assess combination therapies and the potential for cancer immunotherapy in earlier stages of disease", said Chad Robins, CEO of Adaptive Biotechnologies.

About Adaptive BiotechnologiesAdaptive Biotechnologies Corporation a platform-based, diagnostic-driven company that leverages next generation sequencing ("NGS") to profile T-Cell and B-Cell Receptors ("TCRs" and "BCRs"). This breakthrough enables in-depth characterization of the adaptive immune system, which is the primary defense against cancer. By incorporating immunosequencing into clinical care, Adaptive can enhance the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of cancer patients.

About immunoSEQTMAdaptive incubates and validates potential clinical products in oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases by offering fee-for-service access to its proprietary immune profiling sequencing technology under the brand name immunoSEQTM. Adaptive will be introducing an immunoSEQ Kit for research use only in the fall of 2014 to facilitate the integration of immunosequencing into research centers globally.

Using the immunoSEQ platform, the company is currently validating a second novel oncology diagnostic to quantify the presence and clonality of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ("TIL") and to create a reliable measure of "immunocompetency" to predict or monitor response to cancer treatments that directly alter the host immune system.